Once again we are going to group a week’s worth of activities, since we stayed in the same campground the entire week. Before leaving Anchorage we did some replenishing of groceries at Sam’s. Our destination was Wascilla, northeast of Anchorage. The purpose of remaining in the
area was because the Alaska State Fair began that week at nearby Palmer. At the Dorothy Page Museum we saw exhibits of Wascilla’s history, and behind the museum a historic town site that had several old buildings. The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Headquarters is outside of town. While there, we watched a video about the race and took a sled dog ride. Independence Mine State Historical Park is located on the Hatcher Pass Road. The mine was a large producer of lode gold during the early 40's. The state has refurbished some of the original buildings. The Hatcher Pass Road is about 50
miles long, with at least half of it unpaved. We happened on a beaver dam and pond. It was exciting to see a beaver bringing building material back to its lodge. We visited the Martin Buser kennels. Martin is a four-time winner, and the fastest winner, of the Iditarod race. His time was 8 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes, and 2 seconds. Those seconds can count because one of the past races was won by Dick Mackey with a margin of only one second. This is a sled dog race of more than 1100 miles from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. We saw a video of his racing, and he showed us one of his sleds and explained the
items it carries. He also did a demonstration of the dogs pulling a sled. Carol had wanted to hold a puppy, and she was all smiles when she was able to do this. We went to the fair on two different days. The fair is home to some of the world’s largest vegetables. The big cabbage competition is next Friday. The winner will probably weigh more than 90 pounds. The all-time record cabbage was over 105 pounds. We saw some huge cabbages, squash, turnips, radishes, kale, and rhubarb. They were not part of the vegetables to be judged but there for display in advance of the judging. They have a lot of entertainment.
We saw a juggling act two times. A lumberjack show, a military brass quintet, an African acrobatic team, saw animals--goats, poultry, rabbits, cows. The highlight was watching a demolition derby. Another fun thing was watching a
scarecrow-building contest. There were at least 10 teams competing. Each team had a t-shaped post and a lot of old clothes to choose from. Some of the teams were quite innovative. There were scores of small booths selling food, souvenirs, including those made by Alaskans rather than made in China. Thursday night the climax of the day was a large fireworks display. The 25th was our 50th wedding anniversary. We celebrated it by attending the Palmer church. They had a nice fellowship meal for visitors. After the meal we followed one of the members home. They live next to the Alaska Conference camp meeting grounds, and we wanted to see the facilities there. They told us the road beyond was gravel and led to a lake. We did the drive and were not that impressed with the lake. It was big but not scenic. We went back to the motorhome and took a nap. After 50 years we were really tired and sleepy.
area was because the Alaska State Fair began that week at nearby Palmer. At the Dorothy Page Museum we saw exhibits of Wascilla’s history, and behind the museum a historic town site that had several old buildings. The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Headquarters is outside of town. While there, we watched a video about the race and took a sled dog ride. Independence Mine State Historical Park is located on the Hatcher Pass Road. The mine was a large producer of lode gold during the early 40's. The state has refurbished some of the original buildings. The Hatcher Pass Road is about 50 
miles long, with at least half of it unpaved. We happened on a beaver dam and pond. It was exciting to see a beaver bringing building material back to its lodge. We visited the Martin Buser kennels. Martin is a four-time winner, and the fastest winner, of the Iditarod race. His time was 8 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes, and 2 seconds. Those seconds can count because one of the past races was won by Dick Mackey with a margin of only one second. This is a sled dog race of more than 1100 miles from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. We saw a video of his racing, and he showed us one of his sleds and explained the 
items it carries. He also did a demonstration of the dogs pulling a sled. Carol had wanted to hold a puppy, and she was all smiles when she was able to do this. We went to the fair on two different days. The fair is home to some of the world’s largest vegetables. The big cabbage competition is next Friday. The winner will probably weigh more than 90 pounds. The all-time record cabbage was over 105 pounds. We saw some huge cabbages, squash, turnips, radishes, kale, and rhubarb. They were not part of the vegetables to be judged but there for display in advance of the judging. They have a lot of entertainment. 
We saw a juggling act two times. A lumberjack show, a military brass quintet, an African acrobatic team, saw animals--goats, poultry, rabbits, cows. The highlight was watching a demolition derby. Another fun thing was watching a 
scarecrow-building contest. There were at least 10 teams competing. Each team had a t-shaped post and a lot of old clothes to choose from. Some of the teams were quite innovative. There were scores of small booths selling food, souvenirs, including those made by Alaskans rather than made in China. Thursday night the climax of the day was a large fireworks display. The 25th was our 50th wedding anniversary. We celebrated it by attending the Palmer church. They had a nice fellowship meal for visitors. After the meal we followed one of the members home. They live next to the Alaska Conference camp meeting grounds, and we wanted to see the facilities there. They told us the road beyond was gravel and led to a lake. We did the drive and were not that impressed with the lake. It was big but not scenic. We went back to the motorhome and took a nap. After 50 years we were really tired and sleepy.
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